Police believe that he was shot by people he knew, in what they said was probably a “revenge” killing, possibly over a land encroachment case.
The body was found by the chief administrative officer (palad) of Bangwan, Jintana Seuadao.
She said she found the body, dressed only in a sarong, collapsed head-first at a table, already bloated. The body was taken to Surat Thani Medical Centre to extract the bullets. It is estimated that Mr Nipat died about three days before his body was found.
Investigators led by Pol Lt Col Wachira La-Iadsil, chief inspector of the Phang-nga Provincial Forensic Evidence Unit, found the ring of a shotgun shell, and so speculated that at least two people were involved in the shooting.
They also noted glasses of water standing on the table. From this they deduced that the assassins were in conversation with the victim before killing him, and were known to him.
Nipat, 59, had been a popular chief of Bangwan OrBorTor, and was serving his third term when slain.
During ceremonies at Wat Bangwan Buddhist temple, hundreds came to pay their respects. “Villagers loved him,” a local reporter noted. “He was always active in civic causes and helping others.”
Police believe it may have been Nipat’s honest attention to duty that got him killed.
They noted that he had just ordered investigation by police of encroachment on public land in Tambon Bangwan, and that facts in the case were being collected with an eye to prosecution.
Nipat’s son, 34-year-old Poomirat Rakbamroong, said of his father: “People in Kuraburi knew and loved him. He had no disputes with anyone; he was a genuinely good person. Who shot him?”
Kuraburi district is mostly rural but has experienced a boom in investment as a result of tourism. The port at Kuraburi is a main departure point for tours to the Similan and Surin Islands. – Source Siang Tai